Susan Reynolds was renovating her house when this con popped up: “They kept calling and calling and calling,” she told Action 9 attorney Jason Stoogenke.
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They left a message, saying she was going to be arrested because she was a witness in a case and missed court. She says that wasn’t true.
She says the caller texted her documents as proof: A bogus arrest warrant and a form with three logos: the Supreme Court, OIG, and -- oddly -- FDIC. And they had a lot of her information.
“My address, my phone number, my birthday, my Social Security number, everything,” she said.
She says they told her she could pay her way out of the mess: $15,000.
“It was very, very scary. These people are good. They’re very good,” she said.
Stoogenke pointed out a few of the red flags.
“It’s a civil action, but it’s a murder trial, which would be a criminal case. And you have CMPD -- or fake CMPD -- calling you about a federal thing. That doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Reynolds says she was about to withdraw the money, but her bank picked up on the con and stopped her.
“I thought I was a pretty smart cookie, but I almost got ate,” she said.
Stoogenke talks to groups about scams often, and government imposter ones top his list.
Remember:
- No one will call you about failure to appear.
- Court officials never call to threaten to arrest you and certainly don’t offer you to pay your way out of it.
- Don’t trust your Caller ID.
- Not sure? Hang up, look up the court number yourself, and ask.